Chino Ca

The state is closing California's largest youth prison as the population of juvenile offenders in state custody continues to decline, corrections officials announced Thursday. The Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility in Chino will be converted into an adult prison, state officials said. The move is part of a plan to "right-size" staff at the Division of Juvenile Justice, which is reducing its workforce by 400 employees by the end of this year to save the state up to $40 million, said Bernard Warner, the chief deputy secretary for the division.

San Bernardino County prosecutors Friday filed felony charges against a former Chino slaughterhouse manager who allegedly used cruel methods to force ailing cattle into the slaughter box. The charges follow last month's release of a video showing treatment of animals at the plant, which led to schools nationwide pulling beef from cafeterias.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the largest beef recall in its history Sunday, calling for the destruction of 143 million pounds of raw and frozen beef produced by a Chino slaughterhouse that has been accused of inhumane practices. However, the USDA said the vast majority of the meat involved in the recall -- including 37 million pounds that went mostly to schools -- probably has been eaten already. Officials emphasized that danger to consumers was minimal.

How do you make 18,000 pounds of beef disappear? Although it may sound like a trick question, it was a very real issue last week for Lynnelle Grumbles as she and other school food service managers throughout California grappled with the aftermath of the largest beef recall in U.S. history.

A Los Angeles police officer has been arrested by Chino police on suspicion of raping a 17-year-old girl, authorities said Sunday. Jeffrey Sandwell, 37, an eight-year veteran of the LAPD, was pulled over in his own car and arrested while returning home from work about 7 p.m. Friday, according to a Chino police spokesman. Lt.

A heart-pounding high-speed police chase and a bystander's amateur video, the grist of Southern California's crude blend of street crime and reality television, will be at the center of a highly charged police brutality trial set to begin today in San Bernardino. Ivory Webb Jr., a former San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy, faces charges of attempted voluntary manslaughter and assault with a firearm for opening fire on an unarmed man sprawled on the ground after a pursuit in Chino in 2006.

A 57-year-old La Mirada man was killed Friday afternoon when the experimental plane he was piloting crashed in the front lawn of a house near Chino Airport. "The pilot was planning on just doing a little practice work and landing back at Chino," said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor. The single-engine, Sky Gear plane took off at 1:25 p.m. and crashed two minutes later, an FAA official said. The agency has begun an investigation with the National Transportation Safety Board.

A pilot who was killed Friday when the experimental plane he was flying crashed in the frontyard of a house has been identified as a resident of China. The San Bernardino County coroner's website said he was Hyung Jun Lee, 57. Lee was operating an ultra-light aircraft that had taken off from Chino Airport. He was the sole occupant. The 1:24 p.m. accident is under investigation by Chino police and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Authorities are investigating whether a fire that damaged sections of a 112-year-old church was deliberately set. The blaze Saturday afternoon at Chino United Methodist burned its way up a beam to the roof starting about 1:40 p.m., city spokeswoman Michelle Van Der Linden said. The fire was extinguished by 5 p.m., she said. Firefighters had to remove roof tiles and cut into a box surrounding the beam to stop the flames.